The use of touch sensitive interfaces, including those incorporated as part of a touch sensitive display have gained in popularity for their ease of use associated with a more intuitive interaction in accessing and controlling the functionality of electronic devices. When the touch sensitive interface is used in conjunction with a display screen, visual prompts and/or display elements can be presented via the display, which underlies portions of the touch sensitive interface that enable a user to directly interact with information and/or objects being displayed.
Alternatively, other forms of user interface types for use with displays, which have not incorporated a touch sensitive surface that coincides with the display surface, use indirect means for interacting with the displayed information and/or objects. Examples of indirect means for interacting with displayed information include the use of a keyboard or a mouse. In these instances, the user is interacting with the device and controlling its functionality through an interface that is spatially displaced from the display, which is where most results of the interaction are observable or made available to the user.
Because visual feedback can be so important in such instances, where the form of input is spatially displaced from the display on which information is conveyed to the user, in at least some environments, the efficient user of a piece of equipment will learn to interact with the various forms of input without looking at the instrumentality of the input, in order that they can instead remain focused on the information being presented to the user via the display. For example, typists interacting with an electronic device will learn to enter information (i.e., type) without looking at the keyboard.
While the combination of a display and touch sensitive surface has been described as a more direct form of interaction, even where an intermediary element, such as a stylus is used, the stylus feels like an extension of the user's fingers, such that the user feels like they are directly interacting with the displayed information and/or objects, similar to if the user were directly touching the touch sensitive surface of the display. However much of the familiarity and ease of interaction that comes with interacting with an integrated display and touch sensitive surface stems from the ability to see the elements being displayed with which the user can interact. There may be instances in which a user may need to interact with the device, e.g., for purposes of initiating a function, but may have limited ability to visually observe the device as at least a portion of their attention including their visual focus may be occupied elsewhere. Still further, there may be situations where a user is able to touch the device, but there may be an obstruction that cannot be avoided, which limits their ability to directly observe the device. Such an obstruction may be physical in nature, and may correspond to an item being carried by the user. Alternatively, lighting conditions may effectively obstruct the user's ability to clearly view the device, and/or may limit the user's ability to accurately identify or distinguish with specificity the information being presented.
In instances where the user is precluded from looking at the display, the use of a touch sensitive surface can sometimes be difficult or disadvantageous. In some instances, it can be difficult to confirm the particular location of an expected interactive object, and it may also be difficult to confirm that the proper or intended interface or element for a desired function is currently being displayed or is being interacted with by the user.
The present inventors have recognized that it would be beneficial to develop an apparatus and/or approach, which would enable user perceivable cues, which may not need a direct visual viewing of the interaction in order to assist the user in locating one or more interactive elements positioned on or along a touch sensitive surface.